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Complaints

You can make a complaint by phone at any time (02920 837320), or by fax
(02920 837321). This website allows complaints to be made directly to anyone
within IFCS, the Care and Social Services Inspectorate for Wales (CSSIW),
and the Children's Commissioner for Wales.

Your complaints, concerns and views are very important, and will help us
do our job better. We want to hear from you.

You can make a compliant, express your concerns or have your say in a number
of different easy ways.

If you wish to contact your Social Worker, or anyone within Independent Foster
Care Services (IFCS), you can phone using the information on your Main
Contact Card and Personal Contact Card, which are in your welcome pack. Alternatively,
you can use the main contact card online.

To make a complaint use the Complaints Forms in your pack. Stamped addressed
envelopes are also in this pack. Or alternatively you can get more Complaints
Forms from this page, and either print them out to complete by hand and post,

The three steps to the Complaints Procedure are:

STEP 1

Your Complaints Form will be given to the IFCS Social Worker who, after reading it
carefully, will talk to you, make an agreement with you on what should be done, and then do it.
If this is impossible your Complaints Form will be passed to Step 2.

If your complaint is about the IFCS Social Worker or Education Support Worker it will
automatically go to Step 2.

The first step will take five working days.

STEP 2

Your Complaints Form will be passed to the Service Manager, who will interview you,
and others if that is felt OK. The Service Manager will decide on what should be done, and
discuss this plan with you. If you do not agree with the Service Manager then your Complaints Form
will go to Step 3 of the Complaints Procedure.

If your complaint is about the Service Manager it automatically goes to
Step 3.

STEP 3

Your Complaints Form will be sent to the Business Manager of Independent
Foster Care Services (IFCS) who, with the chair person of our Foster Panel,
will read it carefully, talk to you, read any past action plans that were
suggested, possibly talk to others if that was OK, and decide on what should
be done.

The Business Manager and the chair person of the Foster Panel will write
to you with their decision.

If you are not happy with their decision you can contact the Care and
Social Services Inspectorate for Wales (CSSIW) or the Children's Commissioner
for Wales, by email from your webpage on this website,
or by post using the stamped envelopes and addressed labels in this pack,
or by phone using the numbers written on your Main Contact Card.

Complaints against the Business Manager

All complaints against the Business Manager are investigated by the chair
person of the Foster Panel.

You can write out your complaint on one of the Complaints Forms in your
welcome pack, and post it to the Independent Fostering Consultant using
the stamped envelopes and addressed labels also in this pack.

Alternatively, you can email a Complaints Form straight to our Independent
Foster Care Consultant from this web page.

Our Independent Fostering Consultant will carefully read your complaint,
talk to you, talk to others if OK, agree with you on what should be done
and then do it. Finally, she will write a report on your complaint and
what was done to the Care and Social Services Inspectorate for Wales (CSSIW).

We respect the information you give us

We will learn to do our jobs better by whatever you say to us. We value what you say and listen
extremely carefully.

Partly, because your views are so valuable, we write down a lot of what
you say and do and keep all this information on a file. This file will
be given to your Social Worker when you leave foster care with us.

Information on this file may also be given to other professionals who
are directly involved in looking after you. We do not keep secrets, and
will share information on the file if it is going to help a professional
give you a better service or will help keep you safe. You can also see
any information we record on your file at any time.

We will not give out information on your file to anyone who asks, but
will respect this information as very valuable to helping you get the very
good care you have a right to.